Judging A Book By Its Cover

Bookshelves are getting more and more crowded these days, making the competition for reader attention pretty fierce. I’m finding it more difficult than ever to follow the advice I’ve been hearing since I was a kid: “Don’t judge a book by its cover!” A book’s packaging can convey so much—genre, tone, characters, plot, and themes. And let’s face it; I’m an impulsive book buyer. So when I see a cover that catches my eye or a title in bold, distinctive type…well, it totally works in making me pick up—if not buy—that book. Here’s a list of ten books published in 2015 whose contents I would read based on the cover art alone.

1. Infinite Home — Kathleen Alcott

2. Language Arts — Stephanie Kallos

3. Circling The Sun — Paula McLain

4. Fates and Furies — Lauren Groff

5. Not On Fire, But Burning — Greg Hrbek

6. All That Followed — Gabriel Urza

7. Speak — Louisa Hall

8. The Folded Clock — Heidi Julavits

9. Everybody Rise — Stephanie Clifford

10. The Gap of Time — Jeanette Winterson

What are some of your favorite book covers? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Natalie Hallak is an Editorial Assistant for Park Row Books, Harlequin’s literary fiction imprint. She loves reading whip-it smart, emotional literary fiction with commercial appeal, as well as speculative fiction, psychological suspense, and narrative nonfiction/memoir. She has a particular interest in underrepresented voices and loves books that fearlessly blend genres. When Natalie’s not reading, she’s either traveling, playing the French Horn, experimenting with photography, or watching cat videos. You can find her on Twitter: @NatalieHallak.

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